


Host with the Most

by rickyisms



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Birthdays, Drinking, M/M, Surprise Party, bitty is stressed., bitty's need for everyone to like him so much all the time, jack's 30th birthday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:27:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25565104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rickyisms/pseuds/rickyisms
Summary: Eric Bittle is determined to make sure Jack's birthday is perfect and tasteful and surprise freeprompt: a surprise party with miscommunication
Relationships: Eric "Bitty" Bittle/Jack Zimmermann
Comments: 6
Kudos: 80
Collections: Jack Zimmermann Turns 30!





	Host with the Most

**Author's Note:**

> so i was maybe a little bit creative about the prompt. It's not so much a surprise party as a party with many surprises. also my post date is the 28th and I'm posting this at 1am on the 28th otherwise i will forget

Bitty burns a pie and that’s how Jack knows something is wrong. He raised his voice at Jack on Saturday, telling him to leave him alone. Jack just chalked it up to a bad day. He’s been looking at his phone more than usual too, chewing on his thumb like he does when he’s worried. Whenever Jack asks him if he’s okay, he throws a smile on his face and says, “of course honey, why wouldn’t I be?”

No matter how much Jack asks, Bitty keeps insisting that he’s not stressed out about anything. 

But he’s taking a burnt pie out of the oven, and Jack has never seen that happen. He hears the pie tin slam against the counter as Bitty swears under his breath. Jack stands up from the couch and turns around, he leans against the island in the kitchen. 

“It’s not too bad,” Jack says, “We can scrape the top off and I’ll still eat it,” he says. 

It’s the wrong thing to say. 

“Absolutely not!” Bitty exclaims. 

Bitty picks the pie tin up, he winces because it’s still hot. 

“Bits! Your hands, isn’t it still hot?” Jack says. 

Bitty looks down at his fingertips, the pads of his fingers are red, not a serious burn, but it can’t be comfortable. 

“Oh just a little warm,” Bitty says wiping his hands on the sides of his jeans, “It’s okay,” he says, taking a deep breath, “There’s still apple crumble in the fridge, we can have that for dessert,” Bitty says. 

“Okay,” Jack says, not sure how to breach the subject of Bitty’s rapid onset stress this weekend, “How’s the book coming?” Jack asks, hoping that maybe if he asks enough questions he can get Bitty to start ranting about something. 

“Good!” Bitty says. 

So not the book then. The subject of his sophomore cooking book seems to calm him down if anything. 

“I’m still recipe testing, I really want this one to have more vegan options and gluten free alternatives.”

“I know you’ll figure it out,” Jack leans down to kiss Bitty on the top of his head. 

He feels Bitty’s phone vibrate from the back of his jeans. Bitty jumps away and pulls his phone out. 

“Who’s that?” Jack asks as Bitty answers a text. 

“Lardo!” Bitty says. 

Bitty has no reason to lie to him, and Jack trusts him with everything, but he can’t help but feel like there’s something Bitty’s not telling him, a reason his brow has been furrowed more often than not. 

___

Jack Laurent Zimmermans’s thirtieth birthday needs to be perfect and Bitty will not rest until he’s certain that’s what’s going to happen. Jack’s birthday usually consists of something simple, a dinner, a bottle of champagne, a movie on the couch, and some quality time in their high thread count sheets. But this is 30, and 30 is important. 30 is when you’re supposed to be grown up and sophisticated. When you tell people you’re 30, they take you more seriously than when you tell them you’re 29, and Bitty needs to prove he can keep up with that. 

So he’s organizing a dinner party. He’s had plans for the past month, been texting all of Jack’s friends, but this week is when things have to start falling into place. Georgia Martin has his phone number, he thanks his lucky stars that Jack didn’t see the number come up when he pulled his phone out of his pocket, that would have completely blown the surprise. 

Georgia: Hey Eric! I just wanted to give you the heads up before Thursday that my partner won’t be able to make dinner, he’s on a scouting trip for work and his flight got delayed :(

Bitty runs some numbers in his head, mentally subtracts a place setting from the table. 

Bitty: No problem! I hope he’s alright!!

He runs the guest list in his head now that Georgia’s plus one has pulled out. Georgia, Thirdy and his wife, Marty and his wife, Snowy, Bob and Alicia. 

Noticeably missing from the guest list, he knows, their SMH friends. He loves them, he really  _ really  _ does, but he doesn’t know how they’d fare at a dinner party, let alone one for Jack’s thirtieth, one where Bitty’s planning on getting out the good silverware and drinking wine out of the glass rather than the bottle. 

It’s fine, really, they’re coming over on Friday and having a party, so Bitty can assuage his guilt over the dinner party. 

He’s going to bake the dessert but he has a caterer ready to bring dinner, from one of Jack’s favourite fancy restaurants in Providence. Alicia and Bob are bringing champagne. It’s a real grown up dinner party, and it’s going to go perfectly. It has to go perfectly, because his gift deserves the perfect set up. It’s been years since Jack proposed to him, and they’ve been happy with their long engagement but they’ve both been dropping hints. They’re ready to start planning, stop being fiances and start being husbands. And Bitty decided Jack needs a ring of his own. It’s shoved in his jacket pocket right now, wrapped in a sock in case it falls out. He’s going to give it to him after dinner, once he’s proven that he can be Jack’s husband, a real proper adult who can host dinner parties and make small talk with his co-workers. 

____

Jack wakes up on the morning of his thirtieth birthday and doesn’t feel any different. He does what he always does on weekdays. He gets up at six, kisses Bitty on the forehead, takes a second to look at his face. He normally looks peaceful when he sleeps, features relaxed as Jack brushes his hand over his cheek. He doesn’t look like that today. He’s got his arms curled up against his chest. His brows furrow like he’s frowning. Jack kisses him again, faintly on the lips this time, which is different from his usual morning routine, but he feels like Bitty needs it. 

Bitty’s face unscrews slightly as Jack brushes his fingers over his fringe and stands up to put his sneakers on. Jack takes his morning run. He goes down by the waterfront, near the park by the condo. He does his usual five miles and feels good about it. He doesn’t time himself in the offseason but he knows he’s keeping about his usual pace based on what time he gets home. He’s quiet, when he opens the door, Bitty likes his sleep. He prepares his smoothies in the evening so he doesn’t have to turn on the blender. He pulls out a strawberry banana and kale smoothie with vanilla protein powder out of the shelf in the fridge and sits at the kitchen island with his phone. He looks through the news, checks his email and turns on an episode of the world war one podcast he’s been listening to. He answers the only two Happy Birthday texts he’s received so far. One from his mother, and one from Kent. The three of them the earliest risers Jack’s ever known. He knows texts from friends on a slightly more average sleep schedule will start rolling in eventually.

He rinses out his cup and leaves it in the sink and heads to the bathroom that’s attached to the master bedroom. Bitty stirs, he always does by now. He’ll be groggy by the time Jack climbs back into bed, towel wrapped around his waist and cuddles up against Bitty until he wakes up. It’s one of Jack’s favourite parts of the morning. 

Bitty’s sitting up and dressed when Jack comes out of the bathroom. That’s okay, that happens sometimes. Jack can adjust to that. He walks over and hugs Bitty. Bitty wraps his arms around Jack’s torso. 

“Happy birthday, sweetheart,” Bitty says. 

“Thanks,” Jack presses his lips to the top of Bitty’s hair, “You’re up early,” he says. 

“I’m gonna make breakfast,” Bitty says, “Waffles, we don’t use the waffle maker often enough.”

“It sounds perfect, Bits,” Jack says, “I want your birthday to be special,” Bitty says. 

“It already is,” Jack wraps his arm around Bitty’s shoulder. Bitty has to detangle himself to get to the kitchen. He giggles, Jack loves that giggle. He realizes how much he’s been missing that giggle this week. 

Jack sits on his chair at the kitchen island while Bitty cooks. He dips his finger in batter and makes Jack lick it to taste test. Jack thinks it’s just an excuse to get him to put Bitty’s finger in his mouth, but he doesn’t complain. Bitty seems calmer this morning, he lets Jack slide up behind him, kiss him on the side of his neck, hands wandering while Bitty opens the waffle maker and pours more batter on the grill. Jack’s head rests on Bitty’s shoulder and Bitty smiles. 

“You’re in a good mood,” Jack mumbles against Bitty’s shoulder. 

“I’m always in a good mood,” Bitty huffs. 

Jack leans forward so Bitty can see him raise an eyebrow. 

Bitty steps forward and gently slaps Jack on butt with his spatula. 

“That feels unsanitary,” Jack says. 

Bitty scrunches up his nose and pulls Jack down by the shirt collar for a kiss. 

“You’ve almost certainly done worse in this very kitchen, Mir. Zimmermann,” Bitty says, pulling away. 

Jack ducks in for another kiss as soon as Bitty’s done talking, sliding his tongue between Bitty’s lips. 

“Well then let’s get unsanitary,” Jack wraps his arm around Bitty’s waist and hoists him up onto the counter. 

Bitty yelps, a giggle slips out, he wraps his arms around Jack’s neck and kisses him back. Jack puts his arms on Bitty’s thighs, just to have something to hold onto. 

“Jack,” Bitty says, Jack kisses him again. 

“Mmm Jack, honey,” Bitty protests. 

“What?” Jack mumbles between kisses. 

“The waffles,” Bitty says, “They’re gonna burn.”

Jack groans and steps back while Bitty jumps down off the counter. 

Bitty gets the waffle off the iron just in time. There’s a stack on the plate now. Jack sets the table while Bitty cuts up strawberries. So far 30 isn’t much different from 29, but Jack can’t say he minds. He can’t think of anything that would make this morning better. 

Bitty sets the plate of waffles and the bowl of strawberries on the table. It smells like cinnamon and maple. Jack smiles as Bitty puts the syrup on the table. 

“So,” Bitty says, “I know I’ve seemed a bit grouchy this week.”

Jack shakes his head, acting clueless, Bitty whacks him on the shoulder. 

“Shush, I know I have,” Bitty says, “Well, it’s because I’ve been organizing a little surprise party for you,” Bitty’s grinning, ‘I mean I guess it’s not a surprise party since I’m telling you, but I didn’t want you to feel obligated to do any of the planning.”

“Oh!” Jack perks up, “I was worried about you there for a while,” he says, “ _ Do  _ you need any help with anything last minute?” Jack asks, “You did seem stressed.”

Bitty shakes his head, “Everything is falling perfectly into place,” he looks proud and Jack’s chest starts to feel warm. 

“I’m glad.”

“It’s a dinner party, so I’ll lay out your dress shirt. I invited your parents and some of your team!” Bitty says, excited. 

Jack wonders about their Samwell friends, but Bitty seems so excited and so proud, Jack doesn’t want to derail that, and he assumes Bitty just didn’t mention them because their invitation was a given. 

Jack finishes his breakfast and clears his plates. He always does the dishes since Bits is the one who cooks. It’s a good system, works for them. Jack scrubbing the plates while Bitty wipes down the counters and puts away the ingredients he’s left out. Jack picks up a handful of suds, smacks it against Bitty’s hair. Bitty yelps, smacks Jack’s hand away and giggles. 

“You really are a menace, Jack Zimmermann,” Bitty flicks a pinch of pastry flour at him, it lands on his underarmour shirt and Jack fakes a sneeze, lunging forward to wrap his arms around Bitty and roughhouse him into a kiss. 

“I’m only playin’ nice because it’s your birthday,” Bitty says. 

“What if I want you to play rough on my birthday?” Jack wiggles his eyebrows suggestively. 

“Jack!” Bitty scolds, swatting his shoulder with a tea towel, “We have to go pick up your parents from the airport in half an hour.”

“That’s plenty of time,” Jack offers. 

“Jack,” Bitty groans. 

“Okay, okay,” Jack puts his hands up, “But I’m taking a rain check.”

“I’m glad turning 30 hasn’t made you any less voracious,” Bitty rolls his eyes, knocks his hip against Jack’s thigh. 

____

  * Pick up the Zimmermanns
  * Call the caterer
  * Find the extra place settings for the dining table
  * Polish the silverware
  * Wash the wine glasses



Bitty runs the list of things he has to get done before people start showing up in his head. The Zimmermanns are in the backseat of the car,they’d hugged Jack and handed him a gift bag. So far so good. 

By 3 p.m. Alicia and Bob have settled into the couch, Bitty hands them each a glass of wine like a good host. They sip and talk and Bitty asks about their projects and he’s proud of himself for sustaining an adult conversation. They ask about his second book deal and Jack tells them how proud he is. And soon enough, the doorbell buzzes and Marty and Gabby are walking in. Gabby’s holding a bottle of wine, she kisses Jack on the cheek. Bob gets up and claps Marty on the shoulder and they start speaking french. Bitty brings out a charcuterie board when Georgia arrives, a gift bag in hand. 

Snowy and Tater show up at the same time, Tater brings the woman from channel seven who he’s been seeing on and off again for the past few years, and then Thirdy and his wife come. 

“Oh man, the kids just did  _ not  _ want to say goodbye,” Thirdy says emphatically, “Happy birthday, man,” he steps up to hug Jack. Jack slaps him on the back, a grin on his face. 

“How’s 30 feel?”

“About the same as 29,” Jack says. 

Bitty smiles. So far everything’s going perfectly, he’s making small talk, he’s put out horderves, served wine. Gabby’s even told him he makes a great host. So of course, Bitty’s phone has to buzz with bad news. 

The catering. Rats! Quite literally. “Mr. Bittle we are so terribly sorry to have to do this at such last minute. Our kitchens are quite sanitary, but due to an error, the back door was left open after closing last night and several critters made their way into our food reserves. We are terribly terribly sorry about any inconvenience. We are happy to refund you immediately or give you a credit for a later date.”

Bitty grips his phone so tightly it might just crack. He relaxes his grip on the phone. He can’t let them know that he ordered dinner from a rat infested resturaunt, that would entirely ruin the party. Okay, he can handle this. He’ll find another place to order from. Or, he’ll cook. That’s it. That’ll be fine. He can make pasta, he has some sauce from Mama in the cupboard and a whole bunch of the gluten free noodles Jack likes. Everything will go just fine. 

He takes a small breath and slips into the kitchen to start a pot boiling. Cooking calms him down, salting the water, holding a wooden spoon in his hands. He breathes. A good host can improvise, he’s going to be a good host.

“Shits!” Jack’s voice rings through the condo, an uproar of laughter comes from the door. Bitty knows they’re hugging because their voices get muffled, but that is quite literally not the point at all. They’re not supposed to be here until tomorrow!

“Y’all!” Bitty plasters a grin on his face, he wonders if the horror in his eyes is evident. Lardo is holding a sheet cake in her hand with Jack’s face on it. 

“Oh my god, Lards this is hilarious,” Jack says. 

“Hey hey hey!” Bitty hears Ransom’s voice down the hallway. He watches in horror as he tries to fit a bunch of balloons through the door.

“Can’t start the party without us!” Holster calls from behind him.

Bitty loves his friends, like so much, with his entire heart, but how much can their college friends and Jack’s professional friends really mix at a fancy dinner party. Bitty bites down on his fingernail as Lardo, Shitty, Ransom and Holster settle into the living room. Holster’s holding a case of beer. Bitty sighs.This was supposed to be tomorrow. This was supposed to be tomorrow. 

“What are you making Bits, it smells ‘swawesome,” Holster calls. 

“Right now I’m just boiling pasta water for dinner,” Bitty says through gritted teeth.

Bitty feels himself getting overwhelmed so he ducks back into the kitchen. He checks the pasta, still not quite ready. His breathing gets a little bit heavy and he has to hold on to the countertop to keep from screaming his throat raw. He doesn’t know how to host. He’s a bad host, Jack’s friends are going to hate him, their college friends are going to hate him. He can’t balance the energy of his dinner party with the frat boy energy his friends bring. He pulls out his phone and looks at the google calendar invite he’d sent Shitty. Sure enough, it says Thursday not Friday. So this is his fault, he’s really messed it up now. 

He hears a burst of laughter from the living room, he clenches his fist. Jack is 30, 30 means dinner parties and being a good host, not whatever this is. Is anyone even enjoying themself?

___

Jack is having a great time. Everyone’s laughing about the picture of Jack on the cake. 

“Shits wanted to go with the picture of you kissing the cup, but I thought this one was much more the vibe,” Lardo says. 

The picture of Jack standing on the front porch of the Haus in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt next to two foot high snow drifts stares back up at him. There’s a sour expression on his face, he remembers Lardo snapping the picture bundled up in three layers of sweaters.

“So Jack, I heard there’s a story about you chasing off an entire football team,” Vaness (from channel 7) smiles, she’s got her feet tucked underneath of her leaning against Tater on the corner of the sectional. 

“Aw man, you haven’t told these guys yet?” Ransom asks. 

Jack grins, it is his favourite story. 

“Okay, euh, off the record obviously,” he teases, he knows that when Vanessa comes as Alexei’s date to anything, there’s an agreement that she doesn’t work any angles.

“Oh my god, of course.” 

Jack launches into the story. And as he’s telling it, hand gestures and everything, he realizes that he couldn’t have picked a better bunch of friends to be 30 with. It’s not as old as he used to think. He still feels good, still feels goofy and content and he still thinks he could chase a football team if the situation arose. 

The one thing he wishes though, is that Bitty was perched on the arm of the chair he’s sitting in. He still remembers the look on his face the first time he told him this story, the sweet little smile, the twanging “oh lord, all by yourself?” that he muttered. 

But Bitty’s in the kitchen, he’ll be out soon, Jack tells himself. Just as he tells himself that, he hears a crash in the kitchen. He jumps up, lets everyone know it’s fine and he’ll be right back. 

“Bits!” he exclaims. 

The ground is covered in pasta sauce, the whole kitchen smells like oregano, which honestly isn’t the worst thing ever. Bitty’s standing in the middle of the mess looking down at it hopelessly. Jack finds a roll of paper towel and starts scooping up the glass shards first. 

“Okay,” Bitty’s mumbling to himself, “I can make a reduction with olive oil.”

Jack puts his hand on Bitty’s shoulder, “I’m just gonna order a pizza, okay, Bits?” Jack asks. 

Bitty nods, so Jack pulls out his phone. Online delivery because if he can avoid talking to a stranger, he will. He just orders a bunch of everything since leftovers are always good. And then he gets to work scooping the sauce into the trash. The get most of it and Jack puts his hand on top of Bitty’s head. 

“We can mop later, come on, for now everyone wants to say hi to you!” Jack pulls Bitty by the hand into the living room. 

“Does anybody need more wine? Water?” Bitty asks. 

Jack smiles fondly at him, Lardo holds up a bottle of beer and shakes her head. Nobody asks for anything and Jack succeeds in his quest to get Bitty to sit on his lap. He feels Bitty’s tense. He tries to fix it the way he usually does, gentle circles on the back of Bitty’s shoulder, absentmindedly while he talks to Ransom and Holster about how absolutely soul sucking consulting is. 

“Honestly I’m thinking I might wanna reconsider and do med school,” Ransom takes a long sip of his beer. 

Jack nods. 

“My sister’s in med school!” Gabby pipes up. 

“Oh?” Ransom asks, “And uh… how’s she doing?”

“It’s a delicate balance, but she’s getting through,” Gabby answers. 

“You know all about delicate balance, eh, coral reef,” Holster punches Ransom in the shoulder, he groans and rolls his eyes. 

“Definitely worth thinking about,” Ransom admits. 

“How is law, Shitty?” Tater asks. 

“Bull as always,” Shitty rolls his eyes, “but y’know, keep on truckin’ if Lards can make freelancing work then I can make it through lawyer school.” Shitty shrugs. 

There’s a knock on the door, Jack jumps up, “I hope everybody likes pizza,” Jack teases. 

“Oh perfect, I’m starving,” Vanessa leans back against Tater. 

Jack opens the door, takes the seven boxes of pizza and hands the courier a twenty from the hall table, even though he already tipped when he ordered online. It’s polite, and he can, so why not. He hears a faint electrical humming, the lights flicker. 

“Did you see that?” Marty asks. 

“Looks like just a flicker,” Thirdy chirps in. 

“Woah it got dark out?” Ransom points at the wall to ceiling windows in Jack’s living room. 

“We’re supposed to get a storm later tonight, must have come early,” Vanessa says. 

There’s a crash of thunder and this time the power goes out for real. 

“Oh shit!” Shitty exclaims. 

“Candles?” Georgia asks. 

“Yeah, candles,” Lardo agrees. 

“Where do you keep ‘em?” Vanessa asks. 

“In wicker basket under living room table,” Tater provides. How he knows that, Jack will never know. 

In all the chaos, Jack still notices Bitty slip out of the room and into the bedroom, shoulder hunched. 

“Shits!” Jack asks, he strains under the weight of the pizza, “Can you take these?” Shitty stands up and immediately shoulders the load, “I’ll euh, be right back.”

Jack walks as fast as he can without sprinting into the bedroom. Bitty’s not even on their bed, rather, sitting on the floor, leaning against it. Jack sits down next to him without thinking. 

“It’s a disaster!” Bitty exclaims. 

Jack can’t exactly see the tears on his face in the dark, but he knows they’re there, reaches up to brush them away. 

“What’s a disaster?” Jack asks. 

“This!” Bitty hisses, “The dinner party. It’s awful. First the catering got cancelled, then I ruined the backup pasta. Shitty and Lardo and Ransom and Holster weren’t even supposed to  _ be  _ here until tomorrow night, and oh, honey, I know it makes me sound like a horrible friend but I wanted tonight to feel fancy and grownup for you, and now there’s pizza and beer… and no lights and now I can’t whip up lemon tarts for dessert and it’s just… not what I had planned.”

Jack pulls Bitty’s head against his shoulder, rests his hand on the back of his head. 

“Bits, it’s okay,” Jack says. 

“Jack,” Bitty sighs, “I just… I need them to like me, okay? I need everybody to like me all the time. I need to prove that I can be your husband, not just your boyfriend, that I can host a dinner party.”

“Bits, you did a great job tonight, stuff just went wrong.”

Bitty sniffles. 

“You don’t need to try to be something you’re not either,” Jack says, “It’s just a birthday.”

“Yeah, but 30-”

“Just one more than 29,” Jack shrugs. 

Bitty groans, “Did I blow it?”

“No,” Jack says, hand gently running over his shoulder, “Everyone’s having a great time. We’re hockey players, George can get down with beer and pizza or are you forgetting that she’s a like a frat guy but with higher heels?”

Bitty reluctantly laughs, and Jack loves that sound, especially when he knows he pulled it out of Bitty. 

“Shh,” Jack says, just listen. 

He puts his hands on his shoulders while Bitty sits quiet;y, head craning. Sure enough, laughter from the living room. Distinctly belonging to Georgia, who Jack knows Bitty is hellbent on impressing. And then Gabby, and then Holster, screaming and accusing someone of cheating, Lardo, muffled, probably with a mouthful of pizza saying, “Chill bro! It’s just cards,”

“Bits, this is literally perfect, okay?” Jack says, “I know you made plans and those were perfect too, but I promise, it doesn’t matter to me what we eat or if we’re drinking wine or cheap beer, as long as our friends are here.”

Bitty climbs into Jack’s lap, kisses him on the mouth. 

“You are a simple man Mr. Zimmermann.”

“Easy to please,” Jack grins. 

“Do you think they’ll know I was crying?” Bitty asks.

Jack shakes his head, “It’s dark.”

He pulls Bitty to his feet. They walk into the living room with Jack’s arm wrapped around Bitty. 

Their friends are crowded around the table. 

“We’re playing 21, deal you boys in?” Marty asks. 

“Yes please,” Jack answers for Bitty. 

There’s a bunch of candles on the end tables to light up the room, it’s pouring outside. Bitty sits down beside him, hands curled up in his sweatshirt. He leans against Jack’s shoulder. Jack hands him a beer and a slice of pizza while Marty starts dealing cards. And Bitty sighs happily. 

And Jack is 30 and he’s not sitting at the dinner table, but there is wine, even if Gabby and Georgia are drinking out of the bottle now. 

Jack doesn’t drink as much as the rest of them, but he still feels light and warm in the candlelight. 

“Oh my lord!” Bitty bolts up. 

Jack looks over at him, “What, Bits, is something wrong?” 

Bitty’s bounding across the living room over to the coat rack. He’s rooting around in his jacket pocket. Jack sees a balled up sock in his hand, he shoots Bitty a confused look. 

Jack looks over at Alicia, she's kicked her shoes off and uses Bob as a pillow, she shrugs.

Bitty scrambles over to Jack, he gets down on both knees in front of Jack, who’s sitting on the floor. There’s a black velvet ring box in his hand, sock balled up in his other. He looks down at the sock and throws it across the living room. It hits Snowy in the face. 

“Jack,” Bitty says.

Jack smiles so hard and so fondly that his eyes start to water. 

“I know that you already did this once, I had a speech, but nothing really went the way I expected it to tonight. Tonight I wanted to show you that I was ready to be your husband and not just your fiance, but that doesn’t really matter anymore, so,” Bitty flips open the ring box. It’s a simple silver band with both their hockey numbers engraved on the inside. 

Jack nods. 

“Will you wear it?” Bitty asks. 

“Of course I’ll wear it, Bits,” Jack pulls him into a tight hug, they fall on top of each other. 

Shitty clears his throat, “So uh, are we still doing fines?”

Ransom and Holster look at each other. 

“FOIIINE!” They yell in unison. 

Jack feels Bitty laugh against his chest. He shakes his head. 

“Deal us in y’all,” he says, “the elevators aren’t working, we could be here a while.”

“Alright Zimmerbittles,” Shitty rolls his eyes, “If we do end up having a slumber party keep the birthday shenanigans to a minimum.”

“Shitty not in front of-” Jack’s about to tell Shitty not to embarrass Bitty in front of the team. But Bitty’s already picking up a cracker from the leftover charcuterie board at his forehead.

When Georgia Martin passes out on their couch at 2am, Bitty gives Jack a satisfied look. 

“I pick a damn good couch.”

“Yes you do, Mr. Zimmerbittle.”

Bitty gives him a severe look, “We are  _ not  _ going with that.”

**Author's Note:**

> love y'all! comments always appreciated. I am honestly not 100 per cent on how this turned out


End file.
